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To their credit, they did a significant amount of modeling and testing to see if it was enough to account for what the snakes are capable of. Unfortunately the article completely fails to grasp the actual results of the study. They found that while the shape does significantly help, they were unable to reproduce the magnitude of the snakes results and determined that there is something else that we haven't yet found. In other words, the title should have been "Flying snake mystery solution deepens".

The (known) cross-section is an obvious airfoil-shape. We know basically "how" the cross-section leads to gliding performance. It may be that some actual fluid dynamics analysis has led to some better understanding of the details, but the title gives the impression that the basic aerodynamics were not already

"Not the same AC, and I can't say if he has a grudge or not. But it looks like either you're either grabbing at straws or seeing something that is not there to try to blame the original authors for the typical usual bad science reporting crap."

I am blaming them for a slightly misleading title. Nothing more.

Okay, I was wrong that this wasn't original research. BUT my basic point still holds: the title of both OP and the paper strongly suggest that it's NOT original research. And yes, that's their fault.

hmm, no.A photograph is an out of context snapshot of time. They need context for accuracy.Written descriptions can be far more efficient at communicating information.

Better yet, use both.

Yes, of course nobody is saying you should abandon text. While we're being picky, GP didn't say what he meant by efficient. Efficient use of the producer's time? Efficient use of the consumer's time? Efficient use of page space? bandwidth?

A good photograph, chart, or video can accomplish in seconds what it would take hours of puzzling over a few pages of text to understand.

It's really uncanny to see it suddenly going from a free fall into a glide that looks to be on par with what we'd expect from a paper airplane. And later in the video they show it actually pulling off a turn as well, which is even more insane to consider. Jumping from a tree in the forest, I could easily see this thing traveling quite a way.

It's really uncanny to see it suddenly going from a free fall into a glide that looks to be on par with what we'd expect from a paper airplane. And later in the video they show it actually pulling off a turn as well, which is even more insane to consider. Jumping from a tree in the forest, I could easily see this thing traveling quite a way.

Radical. Who would think such motor technique could be harnessed by that brain? I wonder if they hunt while on the fly, too.

These aerodynamic characteristics help to explain how the snake can glide at steep angles and over a wide range of angles of attack, but more complex models that account for 3D effects and the dynamic movements of aerial undulation are required to fully understand the gliding performance of flying snakes

[...] As he spoke, Carson noticed a slim green ribbon ripple out of the jungle canopy ahead. It glided toward them and settled on Gupta's shoulder. A jade ribbon snake.Carson reached over and flicked it to the ground, then stomped on its head, hard.Gupta flinched, then looked down. "A flying snake is only mildly toxic to humans, there was no need to do that.""Flying snakes on Earth, perhaps," said Carson. "This is a jade, its venom compares to that of a krait or a taipan."Gupta paled. "That deadly?""On